Collier Teaching Multicultural Children: ARGUMENT
The Argument of Teaching Multicultural Children
In the reading, Teaching Multicultural Children, by Virginia Collier, she argues that a student's first language should not be eliminated from their education, but instead used to help teach them a second language. Collier argues in the text, that eradication of a child's first language can cause numerous problems in their education. To support her argument she includes a quote from Guadalupe Valdes, in which he says that educators who hold view of eradication, also have an idea of what is right or wrong and believe that they themselves are a tool to teach the student the 'right' language (Collier 226). By eliminating a student's first language from their education, Collier argues that it will only turn students away from wanting to learn.
Throughout the text Collier states that teachers should teach to both the student's first language, along with the standard language used in schools. Guidelines 3 and 4, state that teachers should affirm the home language and teach the standard language as well. She argues that the goal is to have students master the standard
language and have tools to use for communication outside of the school environment. Teachers need to be able to teach to both the primary and secondary language of a student, to avoid the student from feeling that their home language is looked down upon (Collier 227-228). These two guidelines that Collier includes in her article, supports her argument that a child's primary language should not be eliminated from their education, but instead used to help motivate them in school and encouraging them to learn.
It is common for a bilingual person or student to code switch, which Collier defines as, using "both languages in speech, alternating between the two" (Collier 229). She uses code switching to support her main argument, because she believes a student should not be punished or corrected for code switching. Collier says that code switching shows good structure and a sophisticated use of two languages. Code switching helps support her main argument that a
students primary language should not be prevented in a student's school environment, because it can encourage students to learn and feel comfortable with their peers and teachers (Collier 229-230).
Towards the end of the article, Collier states that there should be a curriculum for ESL. In Guideline 6, Collier believes that students that are taught literacy in their primary language first will be able to transfer those skills into their secondary language. She says that students who are taught in literacy in their secondary language tend to fall behind their other ESL peers. This supports Colliers argument, because by using a student's primary language to teach them literacy first, they are more likely to excel in learning literacy in their secondary language.
Connections
Collier states in Guideline 4, that teachers should teach standard English, along with a students primary language and appreciation of the different dialects. She says that by teaching multiple languages in the classroom, students will be more aware of the benefits from knowing two different languages (Collier 228).
As I was reading this article I could not help but think of Lisa Delpit's article, Other People's Children. There is a section in Delpit's article which she includes a story about Martha Demientieff, a Native Alaskan teacher. In the story, Delpit explains how the teacher, teaches her students both their native Alaskan language along with standard English. She has the students dress up for a formal dinner where they will only speak standard English and then the students have a picnic where only informal language will be spoken. Demientieff uses this lesson as a way to teach the students that both languages are acceptable and as way to show value to her students native dialect (Delpit 41-42).
The article by Collier, reminded me of a situation my mom told me about a student in her class. In her class, she has a student whose first language is Spanish. When they were testing the student's literacy scores the student did not score high. The reason the student was not able to do well on the literacy test due to the test being written in English and not in Spanish. The article made me wonder what would have happened if the student took the test in Spanish, how different their test score would be.
Talking Points
After reading the article by Collier, I found it to be very insightful and I liked how she included numerous guidelines in the text. I felt that these guidelines addressed skills and ideas for teachers to carry and use in the classroom with students that are English learners. The article also made me open to the idea of allowing students to speak freely using the primary language along with code switching, but also encourage them to learn Standard English. Even though the article showcased tools for teachers to use, it made me think why these issues needed to be addressed in the first place. By this I mean, I would like to think that ALL schools have tools in place for English language learners, but that clearly is not the case based upon the fact that Collier is addressing them. It began to make me think why there are not more schools that have a curriculum in place for students whose first language is not English. I am also left wondering why is there not more support in schools as well for these students and what can be done to ensure that support is implemented into a student's education?
Hyperlink
As I was researching the benefits of a bilingual classroom I came across an article in which the author, Daniella Suarez, discusses her experience of being a bilingual student and along with history of ESL. At the end of her article, she makes the reader questioned why they may stop someone from speaking their first language and she encourages people to allow others to speak their primary language. I included the link, for you to check it out and read more on it.
https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2017/07/12/embracing-bilingualism-in-the-classroom-what-role.html
Works Cited
As I was reading this article I could not help but think of Lisa Delpit's article, Other People's Children. There is a section in Delpit's article which she includes a story about Martha Demientieff, a Native Alaskan teacher. In the story, Delpit explains how the teacher, teaches her students both their native Alaskan language along with standard English. She has the students dress up for a formal dinner where they will only speak standard English and then the students have a picnic where only informal language will be spoken. Demientieff uses this lesson as a way to teach the students that both languages are acceptable and as way to show value to her students native dialect (Delpit 41-42).
The article by Collier, reminded me of a situation my mom told me about a student in her class. In her class, she has a student whose first language is Spanish. When they were testing the student's literacy scores the student did not score high. The reason the student was not able to do well on the literacy test due to the test being written in English and not in Spanish. The article made me wonder what would have happened if the student took the test in Spanish, how different their test score would be.
Talking Points
After reading the article by Collier, I found it to be very insightful and I liked how she included numerous guidelines in the text. I felt that these guidelines addressed skills and ideas for teachers to carry and use in the classroom with students that are English learners. The article also made me open to the idea of allowing students to speak freely using the primary language along with code switching, but also encourage them to learn Standard English. Even though the article showcased tools for teachers to use, it made me think why these issues needed to be addressed in the first place. By this I mean, I would like to think that ALL schools have tools in place for English language learners, but that clearly is not the case based upon the fact that Collier is addressing them. It began to make me think why there are not more schools that have a curriculum in place for students whose first language is not English. I am also left wondering why is there not more support in schools as well for these students and what can be done to ensure that support is implemented into a student's education?
Hyperlink
As I was researching the benefits of a bilingual classroom I came across an article in which the author, Daniella Suarez, discusses her experience of being a bilingual student and along with history of ESL. At the end of her article, she makes the reader questioned why they may stop someone from speaking their first language and she encourages people to allow others to speak their primary language. I included the link, for you to check it out and read more on it.
https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2017/07/12/embracing-bilingualism-in-the-classroom-what-role.html
Works Cited
“Bilingual Classroom Reading Center: Class Set up: Bilingual Classroom, Bilingual Education, Spanish Classroom.” Pinterest, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/505388389405226391/.
Collier, Virginia. Teaching Multilingual Children . Santa Ana, Otto , 2004.
Delpit, Lisa. Other People's Children. The New Press, New York.
Strauss, Valerie. “Some Bad News for Kindergartners in Michigan.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 26 Apr. 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/04/26/some-bad-news-for-kindergartners-in-michigan/.
Suárez, Daniella. “Embracing Bilingualism in the Classroom: What Role Will You Play?” Teacher Teacher, 19 Feb. 2019, https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2017/07/12/embracing-bilingualism-in-the-classroom-what-role.html.
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ReplyDeleteI often find standardized testing to fail at doing exactly what it's trying to do - mainly because it attempts to compare people to one standard, often not taking in to account outside factors. Sometimes this system works but I feel (especially with language proficiency tests) that it doesn't work to it's full potential. I'd be interested to know if the girl you mentioned had English speaking skills, or the full reasoning she received a poor grade. Especially with the technologically advancing society, I find that some cultures don't need handwriting as much. I've even heard of some learners of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean opt out of ever learning to know to to "write" but get by through spoken word, reading comprehension, and typing/texting. Often than not these same people are able to appear fluent in aspects like conversation as they don't need to know how to write to manage. Granted handwriting has it's place, but I do find it interesting that you could achieve conversational and even reading ability without ever having to write a word.
ReplyDelete*Sorry about the double post - my other account keeps acting as the default for comments.
I enjoyed reading about your connections to the article even though you chose the argument set up. Since I personally don't have any connections to the reading, it was nice to read about yours. The way you organized your post made it easy to read and easy to understand. I am glad you included a link about the importance of bilingualism in the classroom, I think it is important everyone understand that.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you clearly stated every paragraph and so it is easy to go back and find exactly what you were looking to clarify. I also like the links you provided because it gives us more information about Bilingual languages in the schools. Overall, I really like your argument and how you backed it up with a lot of information.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you argued about keeping their origin language for multilingual children. The reason why I liked this argument is because without their original language in the classroom will make the students feel worse and struggling to speak in a primary language in the school. Overall, I really liked the argument and the evidence you backed up in the argument.
ReplyDeleteHi Shaelyn, I used your blog for my extended comments blog this week! I really liked your post and thought you did a great job proving Collier's main argument. I really liked how you connected this article with Delpit's that we read earlier this semester. I also appreciated the experience you included about your mom's student whose first language is Spanish, and how the student's test scores were significantly lower than the fluent English speakers. Collier explained that when students learn to read and write in their primary language first, they learn much faster how to do this in English, and I find that super interesting. Thanks again for the hard work you put in your blog, because it helped me write my own! :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post, I used it to extend off of in my own blog post. I think you covered the topics of the article very well. I believe it is important for students to be able to use their first language and not have it taken away from them outside of their home. They should feel comfortable speaking in whichever language they want to use or even code- switching so that they can better understand what they are learning.
ReplyDeleteHi Shaelyn, great post. I think you summarized the topic perfectly and it was very informative. I like that you used your moms student as an example because it really helps view this topic as a current issue. I think it is important for children to feel comfortable while they learn and in order to do that, they have to fully understand the language in which their being taught. I can relate to the code switching since my first language was Portuguese. The only way I learned to speak English was by being able to code-switch and say what I knew in English and then switch to Portuguese for things I didn't know how to translate.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post and thought you did a great job explaining what each article was about it. It was very helpful to read and you also did a great job making connections. It really made me think about the future and how I could use some of these examples in my future classroom.I also thought your talking point question was very interesting. I was too wondering what else could be done to make these children feel more supported in their education.
ReplyDelete